Saturday, September 06, 2008

Can't find much wrong with this. Rodney's luck has changed. Not because he is getting a fair ride from the media. But because, with a pack of them in tow, he dared to put up an umbrella in Wellington and got away with it!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

In the United States, as soon as a man has acquired some education and pecuniary resources, he either endeavors to get rich by commerce or industry, or he buys land in the bush and turns pioneer. All that he asks of the state is, not to be disturbed in his toil, and to be secure of his earnings.

Managers say they are accepting fewer customers who live outside their entitlement-to-shop zone, spurring determined customers to trick their way into preferred supermarkets.

Thirty seven Wellington supermarkets were set down to hold ballots for out-of-entitlement-to-shop zone applicants yesterday but the press understands that few, if any, of the supermarkets held ballots because no shopping spaces were available.

"There are people who are absolutely hell-bent on getting around the system," Petone Countdown manager, Joe Blogger said.

"They are basically deceitful."

During the last month, Blogger said he had taken to stopping at the homes of customers to check they were living in the entitlement-to-shop zone, as their applications claimed.

"We're at the point where we're having customers ring us saying did you realise so-and-so who says they are living in the entitlement-to-shop zone is not in the zone. That's starting to happen a bit, it's that jealousness or that sense of fear."

A customer was removed from Petone Countdown last year when it was found that she had forged documents to get into the supermarket.

Some customers temporarily moved to an "address of convenience"or claimed they were about to move into the area, Blogger said.

"We get them to sign an affidavit through their lawyer to say they are living in the house, that it's not just an investment house, "he said.

"We have real estate agents here talk about the Silverstream zone,they might lumber that in with the Trentham zone,"he said.

Silvertream Pak'n'Save will hold a ballot for out-of-entitlement-to-shop applicants on Monday.

Journo did not want to reveal exactly how many out-of-entitlement-to-shop zone applicants were in the ballot, but he agreed scores of would-be customers would be disappointed.

Journo said they had not got to the point of door-knocking suspected cheats, but he knew it was happening.

"We've had people trying to up the system living with Auntie and all sort of nonsense."

A Tawa dairy manager Paul Penner said they usually had two ballots a year but but very few customers from outside the Tawa entitlement-to-shop zone were admitted.

"For us it is just at small shoppers level. We just don't have the places available, really," Penner said.

He said out-of-entitlement-to-shop zone customers tricking their way into dairies was "most definitely" a problem.

"In fact I think it is getting more challenging for dairies, "he said, "Yes, we are getting tougher and tougher on addresses to make sure they are right."

He had not experienced forged documents but said there were customers who stayed with a relative or took a rental address for a very short time,

"Once you've approved the customer than that's it. The onus is on the dairy to prove they have used an address of convenience to gain entry and, crikey, it's not very nice stuff to be going down that road.

Penner said his personal checks on customers were "as diplomatic as possible."

"You might send out a bill and it pops back and you think, whoops, hang on a minute. Or there is a change of phone number and you think, hang on, what's happened here."

The Child Support Agency and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship have boosted efforts to crack down on overseas travel of separated parents who are avoiding their child support responsibilities.

The Minister for Human Services, Senator Joe Ludwig, said today that the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two agencies strengthened the CSA’s Departure Prohibition Order (DPO) program.

‘The CSA, with the support of DIAC, has the power to issue international travel bans if a parent persistently fails to meet child support obligations,’ Senator Ludwig said.

‘When a DPO is issued, the affected parent cannot leave Australia until they make satisfactory arrangements to pay their child support debt.’

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, said the agreement allows CSA to gain access to DIAC’s movement database to identify the overseas travel patterns of parents who have significant child support debts.

‘This new access complements the data-matching arrangements between the two agencies which have been in place for some time now,’ Senator Evans said.

‘It’s pleasing to be able to further assist the CSA with this important program, as the end result is making sure child support payments get to the children who need them.’

Currently the CSA has 1103 DPOs in place across Australia.

Senator Ludwig said the message to separated parents who owe child support was clear.

‘If you want to travel overseas then you need to sort out your overdue child support payments,’ Senator Ludwig said.

‘During 2007-08, the CSA issued 924 DPOs and as a result collected about $5.7 million in outstanding child support.’

Senator Ludwig called on people who knew of upcoming travel plans of child support defaulters to contact the CSA through the Australian Government Services Fraud Tip-off Line, 13 15 24 so a DPO could be considered.

‘The CSA needs to know the likely date of travel and the city and means of departure so that the process can go more smoothly and children can receive the money they need,’ he said.

If the state insists on replacing fathers with welfare then it will continue to create a huge problem of liable parents who rightly or wrongly don't want to or won't pay. It created this problem in Australia with the Parenting Payment and in NZ with the DPB. Sometimes good men get screwed literally and then figuratively. Get rid of the single parent benefit and the bulk of the problem would disappear as women recalculated where their best interests lay. If there was no DPB I would wholeheartedly support the courts using every measure they could to extract support. But not as matters stand. This is a policy for a conservative, authoritarian party. It's not a good policy for a liberal party. But that's just my opinion.

The business of false rape complaints bothers me. Here is another New Zealand case that has pretty much gone unpunished.

Judge Oke Blaikie said wasting police time and undermining legitimate rape prosecutions was a serious offence.

"People have been sent to prison for doing what you did."

He convicted Little of making a false statement to police, sentencing her to 9 months' supervision for substance abuse.

It would appear there are no statistics about the incidence of false rape claims - surprise, surprise. I have blogged before however about the rising incidence of dishonesty crimes and I suspect they are contained therein.

But some stats out of the US show that the incidence may be reasonably high. Wendy McElroy uncovered a report containing this statement;

"Every year since 1989, in about 25 percent of the sexual assault cases referred to the FBI where results could be obtained, the primary suspect has been excluded by forensic DNA testing. Specifically, FBI officials report that out of roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases since 1989, about 2,000 tests have been inconclusive, about 2,000 tests have excluded the primary suspect, and about 6,000 have "matched" or included the primary suspect.....these percentages have remained constant for 7 years, and the National Institute of Justice's informal survey of private laboratories reveals a strikingly similar 26 percent exclusion rate."

Something else occurs to me. This incidence is broadly in line with the rate of DNA paternity testing that reveals a man is not the father of a child.

Of course if there are cash rewards for lying or, as the young Dannevirke beneficiary found out, attention without negative consequences, females will continue to behave in ways which can have devastating consequences for men. I suppose radical "all men are rapists" feminists would consider this is collective moral payback ignoring the individual price paid by innocent people.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

A very keen ACT member has organised a public meeting (with a focus on truckers) tonight at 7pm at the community room at Naenae's Olympic pool. A member of the trucking fraternity will speak, myself and Rodney Hide. I know there are some local readers of this blog. You are most welcome to attend. This will probably be the last chance to hear Rodney in the Hutt South before the election.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Electorate polls often provide an indication of what is happening at a national level. The Waikato Times has polled both Hamilton electorates and the results are here.

In the West the polling is reflecting the very close result of 2005 when the Labour candidate won by a mere 800 votes, but with a swing to National. But there is a large chunk of undecided. Almost one quarter in fact (which is close to what I am finding in Hutt South.)

But in the East the incumbent National MP, David Bennet, is looking at a landslide with his majority well up on 2005 when he received 50 percent of the electorate vote. The National Party vote is also substantial at 49 per cent compared to Labour's 25 per cent.

So these local polls are telling us the same as the national polls. There is going to be a change of government and National may be able to govern alone.

This is interesting but unsurprising;

The economy is more important to men as a deciding issue (10 per cent) than women (five per cent).

Health and education are more important to women (six per cent and seven per cent respectively) than men (two per cent and three per cent).

Health and education standards are a facet of the economy. The economy comes first. How does one get that through to people??

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About Me

Lindsay Mitchell has been researching and commenting on welfare since 2001. Many of her articles have been published in mainstream media and she has appeared on radio,tv and before select committees discussing issues relating to welfare. Lindsay is also an artist who works under commission and exhibits at Wellington, New Zealand, galleries.